Chapter 75

It's hard to keep up with Edward sometimes. Victor decides it's best not to talk anymore. They ride the rest of the way in tense and tenuous silence. It's nearly dusk when they get there, the roped-off, still condemned building.

The years have not been kind. The left face of the manor is crumbling and scorched black from the flames. The facade is weather-worn, with thick vines growing over the surface.

The gate that runs along the front is still partly standing. Though it was a glossy black in Victor's memory, it is now more orange with a rust than its original color.

The smell of rotted wood mingles with moss and ten-year-old char. It assaults the Alpha's nose, along with another fetid, familiar scent.

Victor sees him from the car. It's Issac, hands folded together at the wrists, standing in the way that makes him as large as possible. He's guarding the half-caved-in entrance to the house.

Victor steps out, dusts off his suit, then leaps over the gate in a single bound. Edward cl